Random

A list is being passed around facebook these days. It is one of those things where you tell people 25 things about yourself that they may or may not have known, you know, depending on who "they" is. People are really getting into it. Some pour out a bit of their soul; some parody it and use it to tell an elaborate series of jokes; most try to do a little of each. I really enjoy reading them. Really, there hasn't been a single one I haven't enjoyed. And I think I know why. It's because people enjoy writing them because, duh, everyone's favorite subject is oneself. And part of that enjoyment is transferred to me as the reader. I remember taking a writing class in which an instructor told us that it doesn't work that way. In fact, he told me, the most enjoyable and the most fulfilling writing to read is often that which has been labored over, that which has been pushed out after the most torturous revisions and obsessive attention to detail. If it was fun to write, it's probably not so fun to read was the idea.

To a certain extent, I agree. Often when a writer is having "too much fun" the writing is loose and general (not to mention filled with grammatical errors), the tone snarky and self-satisfied. "Hee hee, look at me" tends to be the general theme. That is never more true than in this blog, naturally. The thing that makes these "25 things about Me" lists an exception is the fact that the "look at me" factor is so overt. The writers literally precede their lists with a statement to the effect of, "Other people are telling you 25 things about themselves. But now the real fun begins, as I will tell you 25 things about MY self." And this is, indeed, what makes it fun to read. There is no better format than a voluntary, free-form list to convey a sense of yourself. There are no rules, other than the number 25, and I learn things from the tone of each item, the phrases chosen, whether it is taken seriously or not, the ordering, the amount of self-referentiality, the choice to write formally or informally, and on and on.

That being said, I do object to one trend in these lists, which is the recurring use of the word "random" to describe the content (e.g., 25 Random Things About Me). Maybe it helps people along to think that their thoughts are random, but I really don't think there are, and I have yet to see a truly random list. In fact, most of the lists are rather cleverly structured. I don't even think it's possible to have a random thought, actually. Thoughts beget thoughts. We all know that. When is the last time you thought of something and absolutely could not link it to some preceding though, no matter how tangential?

But I bring this up not simply to be a pedantic ass. It's also because I think the notion of randomness somehow being involved detracts from what makes these lists cool and interesting to read. It's the creativity, the strange and often funny links between items that writers might not even be aware of as they are writing it. In short, the absence of randomness is what delights me about these lists.

The writing partner and I finished the outline this week. Although the story itself is not one I normally would tell, I do find the process of putting any story together to be enjoyable and satisfying. I think I understand why some people are obsessed with jigsaw puzzles. And, no, the preceding sentence was not a random thought.